Fraudsters scam four people out of nearly €48,300 in Lithuania

Scammers have defrauded four residents of Vilnius, Šilutė, and Klaipėda out of a total of around €48,300, Lithuanian police reported Thursday, citing multiple cases of deception targeting elderly and younger victims.

In Vilnius, an 88-year-old woman reported to the city’s main police commissariat that unknown individuals posing as clinic staff and police officers had tricked her into handing over €12,000. The callers, who spoke Russian, contacted her Wednesday afternoon while she was at home, according to the Police Department.

A second Vilnius resident, a 79-year-old woman, filed a complaint after a scammer impersonating a Russian police officer convinced her to surrender €29,275 on Tuesday. The victim gave the money to an unknown woman who arrived at her home.

In Šilutė, a 63-year-old woman lost €5,000 on May 26 after clicking a fraudulent bank login link and entering her details, Tauragė Police said. Meanwhile, in Klaipėda, a 25-year-old woman was defrauded of €2,000 after transferring funds to accounts provided by a seller advertising an apartment on social media. Police have launched pre-trial investigations into the fraud cases.